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The government has scaled down the economic growth for 2014-15 marginally to 7.2 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.3 per cent as growth in the industrial sector has turned out to be lower while the farm and services sector growth rates have ended up higher than earlier estimates.

Growth rate in secondary sector, comprising manufacturing, electricity and construction, has now been estimated at 5.4 per cent compared with 6.3 per cent earlier, revised estimates released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday showed. The growth rate for the farm sector has been revised upwards to 1.3 per cent from 0.3 per cent earlier and that of the services sector increased to 10.3 per cent from 10.2 per cent. This has largely offset the decline in the secondary sector.

GDP growth rate for 2013-14 has also revised downwards to 6.6 per cent from earlier estimate of 6.9 per cent. According to the statement, estimates of GDP and other aggregates for the years 2011-12 to 2013-14 have also undergone revision due to use of latest available data on agricultural production and industrial production.

The CSO said that in terms of real GVA (gross value added) at constant (2011-12) basic prices, there has been a growth of 7.1 per cent in 2014-15 as against growth of 6.3 per cent in 2013-14. The GVA for 2014-15 was earlier estimated at 7.2 per cent. GVA as a concept was introduced by the CSO last year to measure value addition in the economy.

According to national accounts data, the per capita net national income at current prices is estimated as Rs 79,412 and Rs 86,879 for the years 2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively. Similarly, the per capita private final consumption expenditure at current prices, for the years 2013-14 and 2014-15 is estimated at Rs 52,022 and Rs 56,772, respectively. The gross saving during 2014-15 is estimated as Rs 41.17 lakh crore as against Rs 37.25 lakh crore during 2013-14.

The rate of gross saving to gross national disposable income for the year 2014-15 is estimated as 32.3 per cent, the same as in 2013-14. The highest contributor to the gross saving is the household sector with a share of 57.8 per cent in the year 2014-15. However, the share has declined from 63.4 per cent in 2013-14 to 57.8 in 2014-15.

Meanwhile, a day after stating that there are problems with the way "we count GDP", Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said that he has never raised doubts over the GDP numbers and they are broadly correct. "It was not anything about new GDP numbers or the way GDP is calculated. I think it's broadly correct," he said while delivering the CD Deshmukh Memorial Lecture here.

Rajan said, "You do not have to gauge intent. I am direct when I speak." The comments follow another lecture Rajan gave in Mumbai before students of the RBI-promoted Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai,

wherein he had said, "There are problems with the way we count GDP, which is why we need to be careful sometimes just talking about growth."